1, 2, 3, 4
by heathers-and-feathers
Summary: Giving advice was what she did best. She was so used to helping others with their complicated love lives, telling them what they wanted to hear; she never noticed her own becoming so very problematic. NarutoxOCxGaara love-triangle college!AU
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

The young woman scrolled through her e-mail. Her high from earlier that day was fading with the light in the sky. Her motivation to focus on her next essay was beginning to slip, and she had already begun procrastinating. Erina huffed under her breath, tucking a strand of brown short, choppy hair behind her ear. She needed to get back to work, before she had to go to work. Her professor has commented positively on her previous paper. She picked up her essay and grinned at the wonderful, yet simple letters scribbled in the corner in bright red ink. "_Has promise_". The girl had skipped across campus once she had seen it. Her professor thought she had promise!

Unfortunately, her spirits were once again dampened when she noticed the pile of bills her roommate had left on her desk. Student loans. Book fees. Housing payments. Why did university have to be so expensive? Speaking of which, what time what it? Oh, no.

The nineteen-year-old jumped from her seat, knocking over her desk chair in her haste. Hopefully she hadn't alerted her roommate with her clumsiness. She spent a minute or two rummaging through her closet for the bright blue dress she had to wear to work that night. After she had slipped it on and thrown her black coat over it, she poked around under the bunk bed for a pair of heels. "Well, I'm heading off to work, Temari," she called into the sitting room, where the older girl was also studying.

"Heading to work?" Gaara questioned from his seat on the couch as he raised a nonexistent eyebrow. Erina felt herself jump when he spoke. She had been so immersed in her studies that she hadn't heard him come in. Or Gaara had just been his usual quiet self. In all honesty, she shouldn't have been surprised.

The red head spent more time in their dorm than in his. He said Kankuro's friends were far too noisy for his tastes, so he usually occupied the couch in her and Temari's dorm room. Erina didn't mind, though. Although some people found him to be a creepy, she rather enjoyed his company. He never tried to break the silence with useless small talk, and any conversation they had was interesting. (The conversation about the tattoo on his forehead was a particularly memorable one.) And he certainly never tried to drag her off to crazy, alcohol drenched parties like some of the other boys knew. She considered him to one of her closest friends.

His black make-up covered, sea foam eyes darted to the clock on his laptop in confusion, or at least what Erina recognized to be confusion. Gaara was so stone faced all the time he was hard to read. "It's almost seven," he stated.

Temari looked up at her from her desk to make eye contact with her before she shook her head. "I can't believe they make you work so late," the blond girl commented, highlighting another note in her textbook. Of course, Temari didn't know who "they" were, but that was fine with her. What Erina loved about Temari was that she was always concerned about her, but not enough to pry into her business. As a girl who had two brothers, Temari knew all about the need for privacy. "Do you need Gaara to walk you?"

Gaara didn't say anything, but Erina guessed he was annoyed that his sister had volunteered him for something. She shook her head as he started to grab his things. "It's okay, Gaara. I'll be fine," she stammered quickly, picking up her purse by the front door. "I'll be back later tonight," she called from the doorway. Temari gestured a goodbye wave, but was too focused on her studies to really notice her leaving. Her little brother made a similar gesture, his hands busy text from the cell phone he had pulled out of the pockets of his black jeans.

* * *

In all honesty, she hated walking down the city streets by herself, especially this late in the evening. Part of her wished she had taken Temari up on her offer to have Gaara walk her; no one would even think about bothering her if he was with her, she mused. But she'd just have to grit her teeth and bare it. She certainly didn't want any of her friends finding out where she worked. Finally, she reached her destination, gazing up at the sign that hung above the building. "Club Ainosu" glowed in red and white letters above her head. One of her co-workers glared at her when she burst through the back door.

"I know, I know," she sighed as she hung her coat on a hanger next to the door. Erina looked at the digital clock hanging on the wall. "But I'm not late!" The auburn haired woman flipped her girl dramatically over her shoulder and stomped off, her heels clacking against the tile floors. She was off to tell their manager.

But Erina didn't have time to dwell on that now. She had to hurry up and get ready. There was only five minutes left until the club opened. The brunette bolted for the dressing room, digging through the drawers of make-up at the station she shared with another girl. Finally she found a shade of blue eye shadow she thought would go well with her outfit.

"No! You shouldn't wear that color with that dress!" Her only friend at work, Rei, or at least that was the only name she knew her by, jerked the make-up brush from her hand. The black haired woman spun her around and proceeded to do her make up for her. "Honestly, Mika, do you want to look like a clown?"

"O-Of course not," Erina, or "Mika", mumbled. After all her time working there she still wasn't great with the whole make up thing. Rei always had to make sure her face looked perfect. She felt the chair spin again a few moments later, facing her toward the mirror. When Erina opened her eyes, she found her eyes dusted with a light gold, making the tiny gold flakes in her brown eyes really pop. Her pale pink lips were now a glossy nude. This was the one part she really hated about her job. She could never recognize herself.

Rei hugged her around the shoulders, grinning at their reflection. Rei was much prettier than Erina could ever be. With her "hime-cut" raven hair, and gorgeous dark eyes to match, she had what people could only describe as a natural beauty. She was one of the most popular girls at the club, and everyone who knew her knew her personality even outshone her outer-beauty. Erina considered herself lucky that Rei had taken her under her wing. "Now, give us a big smile, Mika! Be your bubbly self, and get some clients!"

Erina put on the best smile she could, and she swore it was only half-forced. She straightened herself up and made her way to greet the customers, blatantly ignoring Rei's suggestion to adjust her dress to show a little more cleavage.

Such was the difficult life of a hostess.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

"Mika!" Rei called just after closing. Takeda Erina had to stop just short of the door and suppress a groan. It was two in the morning, and she just wanted to go home and get some sleep. She was so happy that she didn't have any classes today. Her beautiful friend ran up, bracelets clamoring and heels clicking, and took her hands in hers. "You were really great tonight! There are even five more clients who've booked you for tomorrow, not including your regulars!"

"R-Really?" Erina stuttered, blinking. She was honestly surprised. It wasn't often that she drew in so much new attention. She had worked at Club Ainosu long enough to know just what kind of guys she attracted: the heartbroken ones. Men who had gotten into fights or trouble with their love seemed to flock to her for advice and a shoulder to lean on. Erina did her best to try and tell them how they could win her back, make it work, or how they could find someone else. And she had to admit she loved the newly found hope on their faces when they left her.

Her fellow hostess grinned, nodding fiercely. She left momentarily to grab the dress Erina had to wear tomorrow night. It was a shimmery, royal purple mini dress that looked very sash-like. In other words, it was nothing that she would have worn normally, but she was grateful. She wasn't exactly making enough money to pay for school _and_ fashion for work. Thankfully, her nicer co-workers didn't mind lending a hand. "Even our most frequent client wants to check you out," Rei added with a wink.

"Which one is that?" she asked, brows furrowing together in thought. Most frequent client? Erina couldn't put a face to a reputation. There were too many men who came to the club almost nightly.

"Oh, you'll know him when you see him," Rei chimed as she shooed her out of the building. "Mika" would be in for a real surprise the next time she came into work.

* * *

The brunette pulled her jacket tighter around herself to keep the chill off, but that didn't help her mostly bare legs. She finally reached the concrete path that led to the dorm buildings and let out a relieved sigh. She wouldn't have to endure the cold much longer. After all, it was almost three in the morning.

The worst part about walking home from work was the dark. Erina absolutely hated the dark. You never knew what crazies were roaming around the city at this hour. When she reached the university, she always felt a little safer, but there were still the occasional drunken jerks to watch out for. At least she didn't feel like she had to clutch her purse as tightly, ready to draw her pepper spray. Luckily for her, she had never had to use it before. Cat calls that were directed towards her usually ended when she quickened her pace.

And speaking of drunks... A very familiar blonde one was stumbling towards her right now. "Naruto?" she whispered curiously at the staggering boy. Uzumaki Naruto was one of the people she had met through a friend-of-a-friend at a social gathering she had been dragged to. Her friend being Temari and her friend being a physics-major named Shikamaru. And Erina was glad they had been introduced; she had gotten rather attached to him.

Even in his inebriated state, he still managed to spot her immediately. Erina had to reach out to steady him, and it wasn't the best idea to have someone leaning on her while she was in heels. Erina asked, "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Erina-chaaan," Naruto slurred, looking a little depressed. His breath reeked of alcohol, but she was used to that from her job. "I was at'a party. Now I can't... get home," he murmured, his eyebrows furrowing together. He lost his footing again, and Erina had to wrap her arms around his waist to keep the both of them from collapsing, almost dropping that expensive dress she was carrying. It must have been a good party, because she noticed Naruto was missing his shirt under his unzipped orange hoodie.

The brandy eyed girl reached up to flick her friend's nose. "That's because you're going the wrong way, silly," she giggled, turning him around. "Your dorm is that way." His lips formed an "o" as he came to the realization that he was walking in the opposite direction, and Erina just couldn't contain her laughter. "Come on, Naruto-kun, let's get you to bed."

Naruto's room was on the third floor, and it was quite a feat getting him up all of those stairs. She was worried about him, though. Usually he was even more boisterous when he was drunk, but tonight he seemed really quiet. And he wasn't very keen on telling her what was wrong. "I'm fine," he grumbled as he slid down the door of his room. They were still in the hallway.

"Let me guess," Erina sighed, taking a seat next to him. "Was Sakura at that party tonight?" She knew all about Naruto's romance, or lack of romance, rather, with the pretty aspiring doctor. Sakura would just never agree to go out with him, no matter how hard he tried, and from what Erina had heard from his friends, poor Naruto had been after this girl since high school.

The blue eyed boy pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "She turned me down again... 'Yelled at me in front of e'erbody," he grumbled, looking dejected. He really had tried everything to get Sakura to like him, and nothing seemed to work. She was still hung up _Sasuke_. Naruto glared at the door behind him when he realized that his Uchiha roommate was sleeping just behind it.

"Naruto," Erina chuckled, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Hey, she didn't mind giving advice when she wasn't working. "One day, she's going to realize what a sweet, gorgeous, amazing guy she's missing out on. You'll see." She ruffled his hair about and soon he was smiling again. "Now, go in and sleep this off. Maybe I'll bring by lunch when you wake up."

She helped him to his feet. After the blonde and finally steadied himself, he hugged her tight with one arm. But Erina had to leave once he had unlocked his door. "You're the best, Erina-chan!" he called after her from his doorway once she reached the stairwell.

"Go to sleep!"


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

"Rise and shine," a voiced called out loudly. Someone rapped at the bed frame of the top bunk, Erina's bunk. Who was waking her up at this hour? Erina lifted her head, her short, light brown hair askew. Her blonde roommate was frowning at her in half-concern, half-frustration. "Seriously, how late did you come in last night?" Temari asked in an exasperated tone.

Erina felt her voice choke up. She had promised Temari she would try not to stay out so late. Before she could answer, a male voice sounded from the other room. "Around three-thirty," he said, causing her to jump a good foot off her mattress. A squeak escaped her throat when her head hit the corner of the ceiling.

Gaara's red head appeared in the doorway. He looked like he had just woken up as well. His hair in all directions and his eyeliner was smudged. Erina quickly pulled her covers over her slightly revealing pajamas. How did he know what time she came in? And how long had he been here? "You threw your coat on me when you came in," he explained with his usual deadpanned expression.

He must have crashed on their couch; she wouldn't have seen him in the dark. "Oh, Gaara, I'm so sorry," she apologized. Her friend simply shrugged her off and closed the door behind him to give the girls some privacy. Now she felt bad. Knowing her luck, she probably threw her coat right on his face and woke him up. Being woken up at three in the morning was _not_ pleasant. "Temari, what time is it?" she asked.

"That's why I woke you up. I know you don't like sleeping past ten-thirty," Temari answered as she handed Erina a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. The brunette took them eagerly; spending so many of her hours in formalwear made her whole body ache for something more comfortable. Temari waited until the girl had awkwardly finished changing in her bunk before she continued, "I'm going to be out all day. I have a lot to do before we have to head home for Winter Break, so just text me or Kankuro if you need anything."

"Got it." Erina didn't have to ask why Gaara wasn't going accompany them. Though she didn't know the details, she knew he and his father weren't exactly on the best of terms, so he never actually went home during breaks. Erina hopped down off her bed, slipping on a pair of her most worn in, comfortable flats. "Hey, Gaara, are you hungry?" she asked, bounding into the sitting room and plopping down next to him. He nodded back at her as he started to gather his things. "Good, because I want to make up for waking you last night. It's on me. Besides, I promised Naruto last night I would bring him something."

Gaara cocked his head to the side at that as he threw his laptop case over his shoulder, but had no real response. "Oh, right, let me grab my purse. I'll meet you downstairs," she grinned, ruffling his hair. His eyes narrowed in a sort of annoyed expression, and he shook her off and made his way for the door. Meanwhile, she went back to the cluttered bedroom to search for that purse.

Temari stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. A knowing smile was playing on her lips. She already had Erina's purse in hand. "You know," she began smugly, handing her the purse. "He stayed here all night waiting for you to get back." Erina didn't know exactly what Temari was implying, but she wasn't sure she liked it.

* * *

Hot, milky liquid slipped down Erina's throat. A variety of smells and spices filled her senses. "Hmm," she hummed happily. "You were right, Gaara! This is really good!" She never knew that chai tea was so delicious. They had stopped at the local café to pick up food for themselves and Naruto. Erina had even picked up something for Naruto's roommate; she wasn't very good friends with Sasuke, but she didn't want to be rude. Luckily, she had Gaara to carry all of the food. Her hands were full with the drinks.

She gently tapped the dorm room door with her foot. "Naruto-kun!" she called. Hopefully this would cheer the blonde up after the whole Sakura-incident last night. Erina hated seeing him so upset. "I brought you your favorite!" There was a loud, familiar groan on the other side of the door. That's right; Naruto was probably suffering from a horrible hangover.

Thankfully, Sasuke was there to answer the door, looking absolutely frustrated. He had been dealing with his hung-over roommate all morning. A sense of relief passed over him when he saw... That-girl-who-hung-out-with-Gaara (whatever her name was). Good, now somebody else could deal with Naruto. "Oh, wait, Sasuke." The girl quickly put her hand out to stop him. She handed him one of the disposable coffee cups she was carrying, and had Gaara produce a takeout box from what he was carrying. "We got you some green tea and an omelet," the brunette chimed.

Sasuke blinked his onyx eyes in confusion. "Thank you," he murmured, taking a sip of his new, piping hot tea. Great, now he'd have to learn this girl's name. "Naruto's still in bed." There was the slightest bit of contempt in his voice, but he quickly took his leave. He had had enough of Naruto for one day.

When she took a look around the tiny dorm space, it was easy to see where each boy spent his time. One half of the dorm was perfectly clean and organized, while the other was in complete disarray. "Naruto," she whispered, looking about the cluttered space. She actually found the blonde boy on the bottom bunk, Sasuke's bunk. He had booted the raven-haired boy out in the middle of the night. But he quickly sat up when he saw her. "Hey there," she giggle, handing him his caramel latte.

"Hey, Erina," he grumbled sleepily, clutching his throbbing head. That's right; last night she had promised to bring by food. Erina grinned and handed him his favorite breakfast: blueberry muffins. She even got the café to drizzle the icing they normally put on cinnamon rolls across the top. He finally spotted Gaara, who was now occupying Sasuke's desk chair while he ate a strawberry parfait. "Oh, hey, Gaara." The quiet boy simply nodded back, looking a cross between bored and irritated.

"You feel any better?" his brandy eyed friend asked, grabbing a muffin for herself. Naruto had strange taste when it came to food, but these really were delicious.

Naruto grinned, licking icing from the corner of his mouth. "I'm great," he answered, taking another gulp of coffee. "Though I really doubt I'm going to be drinking again tonight." He shrugged innocently when she glared at him. What? He knew he always said that, but this time he really meant it! "So, are you coming to the party tonight?"

Erina sighed, flicking her irresponsible friend's nose. "You know I don't go to those. Besides, I have to work tonight." Naruto groaned loudly and complained that she was always working, but she made a point of ignoring him by stuffing another muffin-top into his mouth. After all, tonight was going to be busy. And according to Rei, she was going to have quite a few new customers that she needed to please. She was just glad her friends had such busy social lives that they didn't bother to question hers...

At least for now.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Because Erina had been so gracious as to bring him such a delicious brunch, Naruto only thought it was best to pay for her early dinner. That dinner consisted of ramen from Ichiraku's, of course. Everyone's favorite ramen take-out place located the Liberal Arts side of campus. That stuff was cheap and delicious, just the way she liked it, especially with the way money was so tight. Sure she was paid better than anyone else at school with a part time job, but unlike everyone else, she didn't have parents who could pay for most of her schooling. Her parents could barely afford to help her pay for housing. Sure she had a little scholarship money, but it wasn't enough. She had to admit that she was a little envious of Naruto, who had parents who could pay for everything.

"So, you think that'll work?" Naruto asked in a contemplative tone, tapping his chopsticks against his lips. They were spending the way they normally would. Erina was giving him advice on how to handle Sakura. She was telling him that he should be much more subtle with this girl; she had rejected every single one of his direct advances, after all. But considering his extremely forward nature, Naruto wasn't sure how he was supposed to be "subtle".

Erina nodded eagerly. It was true that she wasn't well acquainted with Sakura, all she knew about the girl was from what Naruto had told her, but she could make a fair guess. Temari had mentioned her a few times, but she had yet to truly meet the girl who had captured Naruto's heart. And in all honesty, though she would never tell Naruto so, the more she had heard about the pre-med student, the more she thought that Sakura wasn't right for Naruto at all.

But those gorgeous sapphire eyes of his gleamed whenever she was mentioned, and he got so excited whenever Erina gave him advice. He was just so determined to win that girl. Her ethics wouldn't allow her to get in the way of a man in love, no matter how much her own heart begged her to do so. "W-Well," she stuttered out. Her chest was beginning to ache from this conversation. "I have to go get ready for work." She handed Naruto her leftovers; he never let her throw away good food.

Naruto moved to stand up, too, holding two half eaten cups of ramen. "You want me to drive you?" he asked once he had swallowed a mouthful of noodles. A smile stretched across her lips; he could be such a gentleman sometimes.

The brandy eyed girl waved her hands in front of herself frantically. "No! I'll be fine," she spluttered a little too quickly. Naruto didn't seem to notice, though. Thank goodness.

He did frown at her, however. "I'm kinda worried about you, Erina-chan," Naruto muttered, concern evident on his face. "It's like you don't have time for anything else anymore. Weren't you supposed to be working on a book or something?" Erina almost laughed; it was good to know he listened to her so well.

"It's just... on the back burner for the moment," she whispered. The entire reason she had gone to university in the first place was to get into the Liberal Arts program and study Literature and English. It was her dream to be a published author, and while her parents were supportive of her dream, they had no way to pay for it. "Don't worry about me, Naruto. Just work on getting that girl."

But Naruto wasn't convinced.

* * *

A deep sigh left her throat. Rei had told her the truth the night before. She had worked ridiculously hard all night; she had never been reserved for the entire night. And these stupid heels were killing her feet. But she only had one customer left, and her boss had promised to pay her extra for all of her hard work. There was no way she would complain. She had a pile of bills counting on this money.

"Hey," her boss called, clipboard in hand. "Congrats, you have your last client of the night at booth seven." She was an older woman, in her late forties, with long, curly hair dyed a dark brown. She was dressed in a fashionable, business-woman like suit, like always. She jabbed Erina harshly in the chest with the back of her pen, issuing her a stern warning. "Now listen, you've done great tonight, but this next guy is an important client. We make a lot of money off of him, so no matter what you do-" Now her pen was jabbing her with each word. "Don't. Screw. This. Up... And go fix your make-up." She turned on one shiny black pump and left the dressing room.

The brunette quickly dashed to the nearest mirror to see what could be wrong with her face. Well, that certainly amped up the pressure. She didn't even know who this guy was, or what type of girl he was into! The only men she catered to other than the heartbroken were men that found her especially "_cute_", and Erina never liked their intentions. Heck, no one had even bothered to tell her this man's name! After fixing a smudge on her lower lid, she straightened up her stunning purple dress and made her way out of the dressing room.

She glanced at a schedule on the wall. The identical twins, called Yua and Yuuka, were with the client now. They would do her the honors of introducing them, and they were sweeter to her than some of the other girls. In fact, she was pretty sure the dress she was wearing belonged to them. They wouldn't try to humiliate her.

"Mika-chan!" Erina heard them chime in unison. "Over here!" They were across of crowded room, waving at her and showing off their indistinguishable smiles. Erina would never be able to tell them apart. Erina did her best to keep her cool as she approached them. She tried to make sure her smile didn't look too forced and her shoulders not too tense, but she knew she probably looked nervous.

"Well," they continued, still in unison. She would never understand how the twins did that so perfectly. "We are leaving you in very good hands, Jiraiya-san!"


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

By the time Erina had gotten back to her dorm, it was well past three-thirty and well into four in the morning. Erina quickly kicked off her heels at the door, and tossed her coat and purse onto the couch. Her whole body was tense from being so nervous around that important client, but she didn't care about that. She was actually quite giddy. After all, it wasn't every night that she was being a hostess to a successful author. Sure, he wrote for a particular genre that she wasn't exactly interested in, but that was hardly the point. She had met someone who had been _published!_ And after she had accidentally blurted out that she was a writer with the intention of getting published someday, he had actually asked to see some of her work next week.

The brunette's excitement quickly died down as she noticed the time on the digital clock that rested on the sitting room desk. Suddenly she was painfully aware of how tired she was. She began pulling a few bobby pins out of her hair and tugged at the zipper on the side of her dress. Just when she was slipping out of the mess of purple fabric, there was a strangled sort of noise a few feet away from her. Her brandy eyes darted around the room for the source.

"G-Gaara!" she squeaked, pulling the dress back over her shoulders. She resisted the urge to hit herself upside the head. He was crashing on their couch again tonight, and Erina had stupidly thrown her coat on top of him and woke him up... again. Hopefully the red head hadn't seen anything, but even in the dark she had could see that his somewhat embarrassed expression pointed to the contrary. It was the first time she had seen such emotion on his face. Curse these dressed and their built-in bras. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think you'd be here." It was the most pitiful apology she could muster.

Gaara shook his head, but had nothing else to say on the subject. He just turned his attention towards the clock. "You're here even later than usual," he commented, reaching over to turn on a lamp. Erina took the opportunity to zip up her dress. Unlike Naruto and Temari, Gaara never flat out told her that he didn't approve of her work hours. She guessed he just wasn't socially or emotionally experienced enough to bring up such conversation.

Gaara's eyes fell back on her, specifically her fancy dress. But he found it hard to look at her after he had seen the top half of what was _under_ that dress. All the same, he couldn't help but notice that it looked more like something someone would wear on a date than a work uniform. "Well," she began, and his eyes moved back to her face. "If it makes you feel better, don't have to work again until next weekend." It did make him feel better, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I'm... uh, going to get ready for bed now," she mumbled awkwardly after a moment or two of uneasy silence. Perhaps in the morning the both of them will have forgotten about the whole accidently-undressing-in-front-of-him thing. It was wishful thinking of course.

Gaara commented as she walked by, "It suits you." Erina turned back, blinking her silver shadowed eyes at him in confusion. "The dress," he elaborated monotonously, lying back down on the couch and closing his eyes. "It suits you."

She found herself too flustered to thank him.

* * *

"Who holds a party on a Sunday night?" Erina grumbled in frustration into the receiver of her cell phone. He was seriously ruining her lunch with Gaara; the café was suddenly not as comforting as it normally was. Naruto found out she didn't have to work for a while and decided this was the best time to socialize her. Apparently, parties were the best way to do that. In Erina's opinion, though, Naruto needed to be a little _less_ social. Did he ever study?

"Uhh, people who don't have classes on Monday?" the blonde chimed on the other end. "Come on, Erina-chan! Please?" Part of her wanted to retort that _he_ had classes on Monday, but she could practically see his pout. And she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was anxious for her to say yes. That boy was just far too good at tugging at her heartstrings.

"Well, fine, okay. Just this once," she sighed. Her frown quickly disappeared as soon as Gaara return with their sandwiches and chai tea lattes. "What do I wear to this thing?" Erina asked, her tone a little brighter now that she had her hot, spicy latte. Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow in curiosity, but she mouthed at him to "wait just a minute".

She could practically hear Naruto jumping up and down on the other end. "You can wear whatever you wan— Oh! Wait! No! Wear something really _sexy!_ I've never gotten to see you dressed up!" Erina blushed deeply; she wanted to remind him that just the other night she had wore that blue dress the other night she had helped him to his dorm, but she decided to keep her mouth shut. He was probably too drunk to remember what she was wearing anyway. "I've got to go, Erina-chan! I'll pick you up tonight! Seven o'clock!" And then he hung up on her.

Erina groaned, looking down at her cheap, baby blue flip phone. Gaara was still blinking at her patiently. Suddenly, she had an idea. "Hey, Gaara," she started, reaching across the café table and taking hold of his hands. He simply stared awkwardly back. "What are you doing tonight?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

If there was a good reason to be at this party, Erina had yet to find it. First off, Naruto's suggestion to wear something "_sexy_" wasn't the greatest idea. She had put on an inexpensive, baby pink dress that was soft and comfortable as well as casual. Naruto had whole-heartedly approved of her choice when he came to pick her up because of the amount of cleavage it showed. Unfortunately, a few of the drunken idiots at the party also approved of her appearance. Luckily for her, she had dragged Gaara along with her, and all she had to do was grab the red head's arm. Then the other boys decided that possibly getting her out of that dress wasn't worth pissing him off.

Secondly, the music was way too loud, and the people were way too rambunctious for both her and Gaara's tastes. They quickly learned that no comfortable seats, like sofas and armchairs, were safe. A very "_eager_" couple nearly collapsed onto the two of them, and they quickly scampered away from the all too happy couple. It was a bit more traumatizing for Gaara than it was for her; he hadn't spoken since the incident.

And finally, the second they got there Naruto ran off to find Sakura, or started to run, rather. Then he remembered Erina's advice to be subtle. But at the same time, even though she couldn't hear his conversation with the pink haired girl, she knew that he wasn't being himself. All the same, Erina found herself surprised; Naruto was actually doing well at being casual. Maybe a little too well.

And that's when she decided to have her first drink of the night.

Erina was about to finish her fourth by the time Gaara cut her off. "H-Hey," she stumbled over her words, desperately reaching for her beverage. "That's mine! Gimme!" Although, she wasn't sure what the cup was filled with exactly, but it tasted like peaches. Peaches were delicious.

Her eye make-up clad friend shook his head. He had never seen her like this before. Usually she was much more responsible than this. And he got the feeling that her behavior was caused by a certain blonde and the way he was blatantly hitting on a certain pre-med student. Finally, he said what he should have said hours ago, "Let's go, Erina."

"But why?" the brunette protested as reached harder for the drink Gaara was holding high about her head. "I'm having fun now!" Even in her drunken stupor she knew that was he was right. She was having a horrible time, but here there was alcohol. She cried unhappily when he tossed her delicious peach drink into a nearby bin. "That was mine!"

Gaara briefly contemplated whether or not she would kick him if he tried to carry her out, but those thoughts were quickly interrupted by that certain blonde. "Hey, Erina-chan! That advice you gave me really— whoa," he trailed off, looking at the girl's teary, glazed over eyes. "You're actually drunk, aren't you?" It was an even bigger surprise to him than the fact he had stayed sober all night, because Erina didn't drink. It was as simple as that. She had explained to him more than once that she didn't find it enjoyable. Suddenly, he was rather concerned. "Maybe I should take you home." After all, she had helped him to his dorm on more than one occasion.

She puffed out her flushed cheeks at him, straightening up. "No, I'm going to go dance," she stated as a matter-of-factly before stomping away in a huff towards the mess of gyrating bodies in another room.

But Naruto was quick to grab her, his arms snaking around her waist; he didn't like the thought of her rubbing up on other people while she was this intoxicated. "Oh, no, no, let's get you home," he muttered, lifting her up. Erina quickly protested, trying to squirm out of his grip and whining angrily. He tried to avoid her kicking legs; she almost nailed his shin a couple of times. At least she didn't have heels on tonight. "Gaara, could you give me a hand?"

Gaara simply raised his hands with a sigh, aggravation evident in his sea foam eyes. Though he didn't say it out loud, Naruto read it as, "This is _your_ fault. Fix it." Although, Naruto wasn't exactly sure how this was his fault, other than the fact he brought her here. But Gaara looked like he knew something Naruto didn't; he'd have to remember to ask him about it later.

Naruto finally started carrying the brunette out of the house the party was being held at once she had stopped kicking, their redheaded friend following close behind. Of course, Gaara knew what the oblivious blonde just couldn't see. Even he knew Erina was clearly upset that Naruto was hanging all over the Haruno girl all night. He almost found it intriguing; he wasn't nearly as good as identifying with emotions as Naruto was, and somehow Naruto had completely missed it. Then again, Naruto had never been the brightest boy, and Erina had done a fairly good job of hiding it...

But not good enough to hide it from Gaara.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Erina refused to take off her sunglasses in her Biology II class that morning. The room was far too bright for her hung over tastes, and her head was throbbing so freaking hard at the moment. She barely remembered how she got home last night. After got out of bed and heaved up her guts into her toilet, instead of finding Gaara on her couch, she found a snoozing, drooling blonde. When she woke him up, Naruto told her a very interesting story about how she kicked him in the shins more times than he could count. Then, once she had calmed down, she started licking his hair and talking about how blue his eyes were.

Erina had quickly shuffled out of the room without even saying goodbye before she could hear anymore. He had texted her a few times during class, asking if she was alright, but she refused to respond to them, at least until her hangover was gone. She had this feeling that she had said something else to him during her drunken stupor that she shouldn't have said.

According to Naruto, Gaara had left about halfway to her dorm; apparently he had stayed in him and Kankuro's room for once. Her professor was rattling on about metaphase, but all she could think about was if she had done something last night to upset him. She snuck her cheap cell phone out from underneath her textbook. "_I'm really sorry for last night. Lunch at Haiku's around 1:30?_" the brunette typed out, carefully reading it back over before hitting "send". Hopefully, he would answer her.

"Takeda-san. Put that up," her professor stated, not even looking behind him. He just continued to write on the white board about mitosis or something.

A few heads glanced at her, and she slid it beneath her book again, looking a little embarrassed. Then she remembered that last night she was _licking_ Naruto's hair and decided this wasn't anything worth getting worked up about. After a couple of minutes, she heard the gentle buzz of her phone letting her know that she had received her answer.

"_I'll buy._"

Suddenly her headache felt a lot better.

* * *

Erina waited around Haiku Café for thirty whole minutes before she saw Gaara finally come in. She got up and ran over, hugging the redhead tight around the waist the second she saw him. Not the best thing to do, considering Gaara wasn't at all used to physical contact from anyone, but she'd never forgive herself if she lost him as a friend. "I'm really sorry about last night, Gaara. I was stupid, immature, and stu-"

Gaara grabbed her by her shoulders and pried her off of him before she could finish. Yeah, not used to physical contact at all. "It's... fine," he mumbled, clearing his throat. He knew that Erina was just upset about Naruto's feelings for Sakura, but last night was just a little much for him to take after she started _licking_ his hair. And even putting up Kankuro and his friends were better than hearing her go on about the Uzumaki's eyes. Gaara pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his black jeans. "What do you want?" She still looked like she hadn't gotten over her hangover yet.

"You don't have to," she started, reaching into her own purse. Her friend wouldn't have it, though, and she was forced to let him pay for her meal. So, she patiently waited in a big comfy arm chair for him to get back with their food. She was so happy that she was able to enjoy sitting in comfortable silence with him again. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last as long as it normally did. Her tiny blue cell phone began buzzing away the second they had started to eat.

"It's Naruto," she explained, pressing the button to ignore the call. She still didn't feel comfortable talking to him right now. She still had the feeling she had said something to him that she shouldn't have. You know, other than the whole thing about his eyes looking so blue.

Gaara cocked his head to the side and blinked his sea foam eyes in confusion. Since when did Erina ever ignore Naruto? Did they get into a fight about last night? "You aren't going to answer?" he asked, setting his strawberry parfait on the coffee table.

Erina felt blood rise into her cheeks, and she hid herself behind her latte. "I guess I'm just... embarrassed about last night." Suddenly, she was very interested with the way the barista had written Gaara's name on the paper cup.

Another moment of silence, that wasn't so comfortable, Gaara finally said, "You should talk to him." Erina looked back up at him from her lunch with interest. Normally he kept his mouth shut about what he thought she should or shouldn't do. He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out his cell phone, showing her the screen. "So he'll stop texting me."

"_Have you seen Erina yet?_"

"_Did she say anything about me?_"

"_Is she mad? She seemed mad!_"

"_Tell her I'm really sorry for whatever I did okay?_"

A sigh passed her pale pink lips. If it would get him to stop freaking out, she would return his call.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

"_Erina-chan!_" The brunette had to pull her phone away from her ear as Naruto yelled her name on his end. He really must have been freaking out. Erina pulled her coat tighter around herself; it was really cold outside the library that evening. She hadn't exactly called him back immediately like she told Gaara she would. She waited until the next day, because the more she thought about telling Naruto that everything was okay between them, she realized that the first thing that left his mouth was going to be "Sakura-this" and "Sakura-that". Erina didn't think she could take any more of that, at least right now.

"_Listen, I'm really sorry about dragging you to that party! Please don't be mad at me anymore!_" The boy sounded almost desperate for forgiveness that he honestly shouldn't have been asking for. She wasn't angry. She was just sick of getting hurt, and it wasn't his fault. He was just being the remarkable human being that he was. It was her fault own for falling for a guy so quickly. She should know; this wasn't the first time.

She inhaled deeply, trying to think about how to tell him. "I'm not mad at you, Naruto," she answered, and she heard the boy sigh on the other end. For a split second, she wanted to change her mind, but she knew she'd regret it if she didn't. It wasn't like she was ending their friendship. "But... I-I think it'd be best if we didn't talk for a little while." She swore she heard glass breaking on the other end, followed by a string of curses from another voice. "Naruto?"

"_WHAT? Why?_" He was nearly screaming on the other end. It broke her heart in two. For the first time, she actually considered breaking her rule. Maybe if she just told him how she felt about him, he would understand. But, no, it was clearly evident that he loved Sakura, and she wasn't going to make things more complicated for him.

"I'm just... going through some stuff right now." Her voice was starting to choke up. She couldn't tell him that what she was going through was just her trying to get over him. And she would get over him; she just needed a week or two away from him to do so.

She could hear him clutching his cell phone in desperation. "_What kind of stuff? Erina, we're friends! I can help!_"

But he couldn't. Erina swallowed again, trying to keep her voice as steady as she could. "I've got to go, Naruto. We'll talk... later, okay? Bye." She didn't bother to wait and hear what he said on the other end; she just hung up and ran as fast as she could to her dorm room.

* * *

"Wait, Erina!" Naruto yelled into his receiver, but he only heard silence on the other end. She had hung up on him. If she really wasn't mad about the party, then why was did she not want to talk to him anymore? What kind of stuff was she going through that she couldn't talk to him about? They were friends; she could tell him anything.

"You're cleaning that up," Sasuke stated as-a-matter-of-factly from his seat at his desk, referring to the glass bottle of soda Naruto had just shattered. He finally looked up from the history report he was writing. Naruto was picking up the broken glass and looking crestfallen. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to his work. "You looked like you just got dumped."

"Shut up! I wasn't dumped," the blonde shouted, throwing the broken glass into their waste bin. Suddenly a sharp pain shot up his arm, and he noticed he had sliced his thumb open on one of the shards. He cursed loudly, and Sasuke tossed him a small first-aid kit that was kept in one of the desk drawers. Naruto was always hurting himself. "Erina-chan just told she wasn't going to talk to me anymore."

"Is that the girl who brought me breakfast a few days ago?" Sasuke questioned, and Naruto nodded in response, pulling a sticky bandage over his bleeding wound. The chair swiveled around as he turned to face his roommate. The raven haired boy crossed his arms over his chest in that particularly annoying manner of his. "So how'd you screw things up with her?"

Heat traveled up Naruto's neck and into his cheeks, his cerulean eyes narrowed in furry. How was this any of Sasuke's business, anyway? "I don't know, _okay_?" he retorted, kneeling on the floor to clean up the spilt soda with an old sock. "She said she wasn't mad..." He threw the wet sock so hard into his laundry basket across the small room that it fell over, spilling its contents all over the floor.

Sasuke grimaced at Naruto's disgusting cleaning habits. Why couldn't he have a cleaner roommate? "Well, how are you going to fix it?"

He didn't have an answer for that.


	9. Chapter 9

【Naruto】❝➀,➁,➂,➃❞【Gaara】09

It had been over month since Erina had stopped talking to Naruto, and since then she had actually started to feel a bit better. Of course, there were a few moments where she had almost run into him, but she tactfully managed to slip away before he spotted her. And it took a lot to avoid all of his calls and texts, and that one night he camped outside her dorm waiting for her to come out. Luckily for her, he had accidently fallen asleep in the hall, and she managed sneak past him.

On the plus side, she had gone back to work and was busy was ever, and her new client, Jiraiya-san, had been very impressed with the writing she had brought in to show him. And he actually wasn't as perverted as some of the other girls said he was, at least not to her. She guessed that maybe she was _just_ a little too young for his taste, but he seemed to enjoy a good conversation with her.

Meanwhile, she and Gaara were closer than ever, even though he silently didn't approve of how Erina had been handling Naruto. He also may have been betraying her trust just a little by telling their blonde friend how she was doing. But she was doing so well now, he wouldn't bring up the ditzy blonde and ruin her mood. She was already so ecstatic that he was making her breakfast.

"I didn't know you cooked!" she squealed happily, a grin spreading across her lips as she sat onto the kitchen counter. Erina had to admit, Gaara looked awfully adorable with oven mitts on. She had no idea he could be so cute. Now that she thought about it, though, she realized that Gaara had quite a few endearing mannerisms. Oh, if only there was an apron for him to wear, too. The thought sent her bursting into a fit of giggles, but she was mostly impressed that he knew how to make eggs and biscuits.

After he had raised a non-existent eyebrow at her giggling, Gaara turned his attention to the skillet in front of him in an attempt avoiding her gaze. "I don't really," he answered. This was the first time he had been in a kitchen actually making something, and the basement kitchen of the girl's dorm building had seen better days. He was just hoping his first attempt at cooking would turn out well.

"You didn't have to do this for me," she said, her grin spreading wider. She was really lucky to have a friend like Gaara, wasn't she?

Gaara finally took the biscuits out of the oven, an action that made her snigger uncontrollably. Soon, he was shoveling scrambled eggs onto two plates for them. Erina hopped off the counter, holding her eager hands out to accept her delicious meal. She stabbed her eggs with her plastic spork and enthusiastically took a bite... And resisted the urge to spit it back out. "I-It's uh, it's good!" she grumbled out once she had forced herself to swallow.

His shoulders sank a little, but his expression remained unchanged. "You don't have to lie," he muttered under his breath. He tried a bite for himself and almost gagged. Wow, these really were terrible. How did he screw this up? He eyed them in disgust as he opened the trash and allowed them to fall in.

"It's okay, Gaara. It was a really good first attempt, but maybe we should stick to the café for breakfast," she laughed, leaning forward to press a friendly kiss into his cheek, but she ended up kissing the corner of his lips. Unfortunately, Gaara didn't see it as a friendly kiss between friends; he saw it as something more.

He angled his head just a little and caught her lips dead on in his. A small, muffled squeak sounded from those soft lips as he gripped her forearms, but she didn't pull away, mostly because she was frozen in shock. Gaara, her _friend_, was _kissing_ her, and he... actually wasn't all that bad. His scent and taste was something spicy and intoxicating, like chai, she mused. But then he got a little braver, trying to deepen the kiss, and she came back to her senses.

The brunette grabbed his shoulders, pushing him away. "G-Gaara, what was that?" she murmured breathlessly, her chest heaving and her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and confusion. What she was more confused about, the fact he had kissed her like that or the fact that part of her wanted to kiss him back, she didn't know.

Then the redhead realized his mistake. Now it was clearly obvious to him that he had misread the situation. Gaara opened his mouth to offer some sort of explanation, but he couldn't find any words. Instead, he wiped off her lip gloss off his face with the back of his hand. She had kissed him back, hadn't she? No. No, she didn't. He could've slapped himself. Then he noticed that he still had his hands on her forearms and thought it'd be best if he took a step back. He had just jeopardized their friendship for nothing.

Erina cleared her throat, looking down into her lap. That was... nothing, right? It was probably just his hormones. Her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson and her throat felt tight, but she managed to muster up in a squeaky voice, "Hey, I bet the biscuits are still good!" She popped a piece of the burnt biscuit into her mouth and gave him a thumbs-up for good effort. It had to have been the lamest distraction she could have ever come up with.

So they were going to just forget about it? Ignore the fact he had just done that? Great... That was probably for the best.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

"He did _what?_" Temari shrieked, jumping out of her desk chair. It toppled to the floor with a clatter, along with most of the blonde's books. Temari was Erina's best girl-friend and the only person she could talk to about this sort of thing. Of course, there was a problem because in this situation the guy she wanted to talk about was Temari's little brother. Erina wasn't exactly sure just how much help her friend was going to be in this situation. "Wha—? W-When?"

Erina hid her face in her hands, shaking her head back and forth. She was about to get ready for work when she saw her roommate studying and just couldn't hold in the events of that morning in anymore. "I don't know," the short muttered, pulling at her short, brown hair. Temari actually had to stop her from ripping it out. "I think... It was kinda my fault, but still it was... _I don't know._"

The blue eyed girl felt herself panicking little by little. She knew that the reason Gaara was always staying over wasn't just because she was his sister and things were quieter. Since the moment she had introduced Gaara to Erina she had been hoping that there might be a little spark there; Gaara needed more female friends, and Erina was the first girl he had ever shown any interest in, at least that Temari knew of. But Erina just didn't seem interested in her brother that way. She was too interesting in that Uzumaki boy, and lately she had worried that Gaara would end up hurt.

Temari gripped her shoulders tightly. "Tell me what happened _exactly_," she enunciated slowly. She had never expected her brother to be so bold.

"Well, we were in the basement, and he was making me breakfast," she began, twiddling her thumbs in a nervous manner. Temari's jaw slacked a little at that. Gaara tried to make breakfast? He had never been in a kitchen in his life. "And it was sort of awful. I went to kiss him on the cheek— in a friendly way! But I think he... took it the wrong way and, well, kissed me."

"Erina! You know how bad he is with social situations! Of course he took it the wrong way! The only person who's worse than him is that art major that Naruto hangs out with!" she yelled as she got up and started pacing around the room. Finally, she asked the question that was plaguing her mind. "Did you kiss him back?"

"No, I-I pushed him away, and then we just didn't talk about it..." She had a feeling that if they had talked about it, everything between them would just end up more awkward. She didn't want to lose Gaara as a friend... Temari was right, she should have known better than to put Gaara in an uncomfortable situation like that.

And then Temari said the words that Erina didn't want to hear. "Erina, you probably broke his heart."

She doubted he was going be sleeping on their couch tonight.

* * *

Naruto growled in frustration, slamming his cell phone down onto the dining room table. He was having dinner over at his parents' house, and while his mom and dad were slaving in the kitchen, he thought it was a good time to try calling Erina again. Why was she still avoiding him? It had been over a month now, surely Erina had gotten over... whatever it was that she was upset with him about. He still wanted to punch himself in the face for falling asleep in her hallway and missing her. The blonde glared back down at his phone, as if it was the cause of all of this, and got up to go help his mother in the kitchen.

"Girl trouble?" his perverted godfather spoke up from across the table, making Naruto jump. Right, his father had a habit of inviting him over. Minato always said something about how Naruto should be close with his godfather, but how long had he been sitting there?

"No! Well, sort of, I guess," the blonde answered, scratching the back of his head. The long, white haired man continued to gaze at him quizzically. Finally, Naruto plopped back down at table, banging his head against it in frustration. "My friend, Erina, stopped talking to me and nothing I've done will make her talk to me again," he muttered after a while.

Jiraiya brought his hand to his chin as he thought of a way he could help the boy, an idea starting to form in his head. It was an unconventional idea, but it just might work. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked as casually as he could, a grin threatening to spread over his face.

Naruto lifted his head from the wooden surface slowly, cocking an eyebrow up at the strange man. "Huh? Nothing that I know of. Why?" When Jiraiya wanted to take him somewhere that usually meant something was up. Or it meant that he was going to get completely wasted and needed Naruto to play designated driver.

Jiraiya smirked, taking another sip of sake from his glass on the table. "I actually know a girl who could help you with your problem."

"... You aren't going to set me up with a _hooker_, are you?"


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

"_A_ _hostess club?_" Naruto yelled incredulously, his wide eyes blinking at the bright neon sign. He suspected they would going somewhere shady when Jiraiya's car headed for downtown. He had already been dragged into a place like this once or twice before, and he wasn't fond of girls who shamelessly flirted and hung on him for money. "I'm _not_ going into another one of those!" But two girls were already waiting for his godfather at door, and they absolutely beamed when they spotted them.

"Jiraiya-san! Is this him?" a pair of painfully beautiful dark haired twins with bleached highlights chimed in unison. In his daze, they were able to pull the blonde boy inside. They were spinning him around, gazing him over. "Oh, it's a shame Mika gets him tonight. He's absolutely adorable!" they continued, again, simultaneously. Once Naruto collected his thoughts, he was awfully curious as how they did that. "But that means that you're heart's been broken! You poor thing!" They hugged him around the waist from either side.

Naruto's cheeks grew hot and he tried to wiggle from their grip, stammering, "I-I-It's not like that—"

The twins grinned and finally released him, skipping over to Jiraiya. Each of them took one of the white haired man's arms. "Don't worry, Mika is amazing! She'll fix you up." Naruto's blush only deepened, and he quickly grew anxious. Exactly how was this Mika girl going to "fix him up"? Only impure thoughts came to mind in a place like this.

An auburn haired woman took his hand and pulled him into a secluded booth, separate from where ever Jiraiya was. Her aura had something dark about it, like she was angry over something, but she grinned in spite of this and offered him something to drink. His hostess would be joining him shortly. Naruto was left alone for a minute, sweating horribly. Luckily, the drink the auburn hostess left him was definitely alcoholic. What was this girl going to be like?

"_Naruto?_" a familiar voice nearly shouted incredulously. His cerulean blue eyes snapped up to find a girl that he barely recognized. She was wearing a particularly short emerald dress with a gold belt. Her pale pink lips were wet with gloss, and her short brown hair was pinned away from her face. But it was her eyes that finally gave her away.

"_Eri—?_" he nearly yelled, but his friend was quicker. She pressed her slender fingers against his lips. But she didn't show any other signs of speaking. She looked too shocked, so he pushed her hand away. "What are you doing here?" His heart leapt. It had been so long since he had seen her. But what was she doing here in a place like this? Oh, well, at least it gave him a chance to finally talk to her. "Did you get dragged here, too? This looks like a place Kankuro would drag you and Gaara to. You could sneak out with me!"

"Naruto, I _work_ here," she whispered fiercely, her eyes full of panic. The blonde blinked once, twice, three times before his eyes widened and he looked like he was about to scream. Erina slapped her hand over his mouth again. "Stop yelling! You'll get me fired."

Naruto pushed her away again, fiercely this time. "What do you mean you _work _here? This is the job you're always busy doing?" he growled. It certainly explained why she was showing so much skin tonight, but Naruto still couldn't process the idea.

"You can't tell anyone about this, okay? No one knows I work here."

"No one? Not even Temari? Or Gaara? The two of you have been so buddy-buddy lately..." he trailed off, grumbling. He appreciated Gaara relaying to him how she was doing, but he couldn't help but feel jealous. How could she keep something like this from everyone? Finally, he crossed his arms in frustration, muttering, "Well, I guess you should go tend to your customers, or whatever."

Erina sighed. She was already worn out from this conversation, and having to explain all of this to Naruto of all people had her completely drained. The brunette sat down next to her friend and took his hand gingerly, hoping to calm him down. "Naruto, _you_ are my customer tonight. Jiraiya-san reserved me for you until closing time. I didn't know it was you, of course. He just said that some girl hurt his godson and he needed someone to talk to."

His glare on her softened, so she continued, "That's what I do here. I help guys out with their girl problems, like how I help you with Sakura." Erina thought she was over that by now, but the other girl's name still tasted bitter on her tongue.

Like she _used_ to, he thought, but at least that didn't sound as bad as some of the things the other girls probably did here. There were still a few things he didn't quite understand, though. "But they said it was some girl named Mika..." His eyes lit up with realization. "You're Mika?" It sort of made since that she wasn't using her real name here. None of the hostesses probably did, for safety reasons. "Erina, you could have just told me. We're friends." At least, he hoped they still were. Maybe this hostess thing was the "stuff she was going through" that made her stop talking to him in the first place? That didn't seem quite right, though.

"It's embarrassing," she murmured, tears slowly creeping up into her brandy eyes. She held them back, though. She couldn't risk messing up her make-up. "I really need this job, Naruto. I need a way to pay for school. Please, don't tell anyone."

That's right. Erina had mentioned to him that her family didn't have much money. This hostess job was out of desperation. A long sigh left his throat. "I won't," he answered, pulling her into a tight hug. He had missed her so much, and he certainly didn't want them to fight about this anymore. "Are we friends again?"

"Yeah-yeah," she sputtered quickly. She felt familiar feeling of heat running into her cheeks at his touch as she attempted to pry him off of her before one of the security guards saw what he was doing. "Naruto, quick, leggo, you're not allowed to touch me like that here. _Youcan'ttouchmelikethathere!_"


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12_

"You didn't have to do this, Naruto," Erina told him with a grin, pulling her coat tighter around herself. The blonde had waited for her at the corner of the street where the club was to walk her home. After having that talk inside, though, she was really glad that he had waited for her. They needed to make up for lost time. She had forgotten how much she had missed him. Hopefully, those old feelings wouldn't come back.

Naruto shrugged, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I want to. I don't like the idea of you walking home alone, especially from that place." The thought of one of some creep following her home was practically unbearable. He couldn't believe she had been walking by herself this whole time.

"It does make me a little uneasy sometimes," she admitted, chuckling nervously. This part of town wasn't exactly the safest. Having someone walk her home brought her more comfort than she thought it would. Especially having someone like Naruto, who definitely wasn't afraid to fight off any attackers.

"I don't mind walking you from now on, you know," the blonde commented. "I bet Gaara wouldn't mind either. You should talk to him about it." He nudged her on the arm as if he was hinting to her that she should open up to the red head.

Erina found herself swallowing a lump in her throat. She hadn't talk to Gaara since he had... well... "Gaara isn't... talking to me right now." When she spotted Naruto's confused expression, she elaborated, "It's complicated. You'd have to ask him about it." She wasn't exactly comfortable talking to Naruto about this sort of problem. "Hey, I thought _I_ was supposed to give _you_ advice," she laughed, nudging him back.

"Well, you won't have to help me much anymore," he stated with a grin, a spring appearing in his step. He had a look on his face as if he was about to burst with good news. But it didn't sound like good news to Erina. All of those feelings she said she wouldn't have rushed back.

"Sakura and I finally started dating!"

* * *

"You look like you had a long night," Temari commented from the living area as Erina emerged from their bedroom looking very disheveled. It was nine-thirty in the morning when Erina finally woke up, her eyes red and puffy. Her blonde friend noticed how she was dragging herself around the room, still clad in her pajamas. "Erina, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she murmured sleepily. It was a lie. Of course she wasn't okay. Naruto and Sakura were _dating_. How on earth had that happened? Well, she had helped him out with that. Why had she ever helped him? Why did he have to be in love with Sakura instead of her?

She gazed at their empty couch. Gaara still wasn't staying over, and she was quickly realizing just how much she missed him from her routine. She wanted to call him and apologize, but what was she supposed to say? "Hey, I'm sorry that I gave you the wrong impression and then completely rejected your advances?" No, that was a horrible idea.

"When is Gaara coming back?" she whined loudly, falling onto the piece of furniture. Her brandy eyes were tearing up, but whether it was because of Gaara or the news Naruto had given her last night, she couldn't tell. All she knew was that she needed him right now. "I miss Gaara."

"He's probably just figuring things out. Like you did with Naruto, remember?" Temari sighed, patting her roommate on the back in a reassuring manner. "He'll come around."

Erina didn't hear her, though. She had already grabbed her phone and was texting him the best thing she could come up with. "_Come back. I miss you. Please? I need my best friend right now._" Temari did her best to remove the brunette from the couch, but her efforts were fruitless. Erina had already decided she wasn't going to move for the rest of the day.

A few minutes after Temari left for the day her phone buzzed and beeped to signal that she had gotten a message, and she flipped her cell phone open eagerly. It wasn't Gaara who had messaged her. This time it was Naruto. "_Gaara won't tell me why you aren't talking. What happened?_"

For once, she felt far too emotionally drained to lie. And who knows? Maybe Naruto could get Gaara to talk to her again. "_He kissed me._"

* * *

Gaara did his best to ignore the text message that appeared on his cell phone from a certain brunette, despite how desperate the message seemed. He still wasn't ready to talk to her yet.

The red head was currently sitting alone in the café eating breakfast. He found himself getting up much earlier now that he was sleeping in his own dorm room again. Kankuro and his fellow performing arts majors really did drive him crazy. He sure did miss that couch.

His phone lit up again, but this time it was Naruto. The message read, "_What happened between you and Erina?_"

Erina and Naruto were talking again? That was odd. Erina acted as though she was still ignoring him. Then again, it had been days since he last saw her. And not only had they started talking again, but she had mentioned him to Naruto. "_Why do you ask?_" he typed back.

"_She said you weren't talking to her. She wouldn't say why. What happened?_"

"_Nothing._" It was half true. His advance had yielded nothing in the end, after all. The two of them were still friends, even if he was staying away from her for the time being. Besides, what had happened between the two of them should stay that way. He wasn't interested in his embarrassing rejection getting out, anyway.

He heard his phone ting again. "_You kissed her? ?_"

So much for that.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

Tin-ting!

"_I still can't believe you made a move! So how was it?_"

Why couldn't Naruto just mind his own business? Gaara set down his cell phone and continued on the book he was reading. He wasn't planning on answering, especially when it seems Erina was more than willing to answer something like that. What had she said to Naruto when she told him about what he did?

Tin-ting!

"_Is she a good kisser?_"

Well, Gaara wouldn't know that would he? Erina hadn't kissed him back. The horrible moment of realization flashed through his mind, and he gripped his phone so tightly it could have cracked. He felt embarrassed just thinking about it.

Tin-ting!

"_Did you guys french? Was she into it?_"

Now that stupid blonde was starting to push it. Gaara glared at the screen before turning back to his Ancient Cities homework. Something about Corinth in Greece...

Tin-ting!

"_How far did you get? Second base?_"

Gaara's sea foam eye started to twitch uncontrollably as images were beginning to form in his mind from Naruto's less than subtle questions. Now he was _really_ pushing it.

Tin-ting!

"_How big is her rack?_"

All these messages from Naruto had sent turned Gaara's face to a shade remarkably close to the color of his hair. A few of the people near him in the café moved away just in case the quiet boy exploded or something. He looked even scarier when he was looking at his phone that way. What had made him so red? Gaara felt himself slowly slipping, and he wasn't sure if that was Naruto's intention or if the blonde was just being annoying.

Fine, he'd see Erina.

* * *

When Gaara arrived at the small dorm room, he found his brandy eyed friend curled up on his usual sleeping spot. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she had made no effort to get dressed. Erina was still in her loose pajamas and wrapped in her soft comforter from her bunk bed. She hadn't even noticed him come in until he cleared his throat.

"Gaara," Erina grinned, sitting up sharply. Her heart leapt at the sight of him; she was so worried that he wouldn't come. She had missed him so much. The brunette had to contain her excitement and tried her best not to throw her arms around him in a hug. "You came! I've missed you so much."

"It's only been a few days," he muttered, looking rather uncomfortable. Gaara couldn't help but notice just how disheveled she looked. He gestured to the cell phone he was carrying in his hand. "Can you get Naruto to stop texting me?"

Erina blinked, looking a little disappointed. That's probably the only reason he had stopped by; Naruto was probably overwhelming him with questions about... what had happened in basement the other day. "Uh, sure, hold on," she replied, digging her phone out of the couch cushions. She typed quickly, just in case Gaara decided to leave. "_Stop bugging him._"

The read head fidgeted about. He hadn't thought of anything else to say to her. What was he suppose to say? "Sorry for forcing myself on you like that?" Actually, Erina might laugh at that. Finally, he murmured, "Is it okay if we talk a bit?" The lump in his throat made it difficult to speak.

"I-If you want..." Erina moved over on the couch and patted the spot next to her. Her friend, if he still was that, took his seat, looking down hard at the floor. "Are you still mad at me?" she asked in a hesitant whisper.

"I wasn't mad at you." He was embarrassed with himself more than anything. Even more embarrassed now, knowing Naruto was bound to mention the little incident to someone sooner or later. Knowing Naruto, it would probably be sooner. And his new pink haired girlfriend was quite the gossiper.

"... So we're still friends?" she questioned. Her tone was laced with hope.

"Yeah." He didn't want to admit the fact that he had missed her. "You don't look so good," he commented as he looked her over again. How had her eyes gotten so red?

"Last night was... stressful with work and everything," she muttered unconvincingly, looking down at her twiddling thumbs. Everything _did_ feel stressful right now, and Naruto showing up at work and then this news that he had actually succeeded getting Sakura,

What she really looked like was distressed. Gaara only had a few guesses as to why, the first beginning with Naruto. "You found out about Naruto and Sakura." It was much more of a statement than a question. Maybe Gaara knew her too well, she mused. "I'm sorry," he offered lamely.

"Don't be," she sighed, waving him off. "It's for the best anyway." But was it? Erina bit down on her lip, pulling her comforter tighter around her. That's when she felt Gaara awkwardly slip an arm around her, which made her jump. He pulled her against his shoulder, and Erina realized he was trying to comfort her. It was awkward, but she appreciated the gesture.

At least she still had Gaara.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

Everything was returning back to normal. Gaara was back to sleeping on her couch. Naruto and her still hung out, though, she had to admit, they didn't do it as often as before. He had a girlfriend now, and she was slowly coming to terms with it. Naruto kept suggesting that she finally meet the girl he was so passionate about, but Erina didn't think she was ready for that just yet. Especially when she still wasn't completely comfortable with Naruto talking about his dates with Sakura.

"Oh, I almost forgot." And here it comes. Naruto and Erina were sitting in the grass outside of Ichiraku's again for their weekly lunch. The blonde had worked hard on trying to find time for the both of them, and Thursday seemed to be the day that the both of them had any extra time, now that he was usually with Sakura. "Erina, can you help me out? Tomorrow night, I'm taking Sakura out on a special date and—"

The brunette's laugh interrupted him. "You have nothing planned?" she stated, shaking her head. Naruto's cheeks reddened as he scratched the back of his head and she knew she was right on the money. "Naruto, haven't I taught you better? Don't tell her you're doing something special without thinking of it first," Erina sighed, looking at her cell phone to check the time. "Well, let me think of something quick. Gaara's going to be here any minute. We're going to the movies."

The blonde quickly swallowed a mouthful of ramen noodles, so quickly, in fact, Erina was briefly concerned that the boy would choke. "Speaking of which," Naruto started with a sly tone. He nudged on the shoulder playfully, a smirk evident on his lips. "What's going on between the two of you?"

Erina found herself blinking in confusion. "What do you mean?" Why would Naruto ask something like that? And he was so enthusiastic about it, too. Did Naruto actually want there to be something going on between her and Gaara? Her heart sank at the thought.

Naruto shrugged, grabbing more ramen with his chopsticks. "Well, the two of you kissed, so there's got to be something going on there, right? And neither of you really told me what happened, so I've been wondering for a while." Oh, that's right, he knew about the whole Gaara-kissing-her thing.

"It... It didn't go exactly like that," the brandy eyed girl muttered, staring into her half empty foam cup. She wished he hadn't brought this up; she had been doing such a good job of not thinking about it. "I sort of pushed him away. And then we didn't talk for a few days, but then he came over and we decided that we're still just friends."

Pushed him away? Oh, that's right. Erina had said that _Gaara_ kissed _her_. She never said anything about returning it. Suddenly, he felt really sorry for him. "And you're sure he's okay with that?" Naruto asked incredulously. Erina looked down at the ground. She didn't have an answer for that. She certainly hoped that Gaara was okay with it. "I think you should at least make it up to him somehow. It probably put him through a lot of embarrassment."

Make it up to him? How was she going to do that? "Oh, look, there he is," Naruto pointed out as he waved enthusiastically to the red head from across the courtyard. Gaara waved back, though a little more awkwardly. As he approached them, her mind continued to race. How could she possibly make it up to him?

Well, she thought of one thing that Naruto would probably get a kick out of. "Hey, Gaara," Erina greeted with a grin. She hopped up of the grass, leaving her empty foam cup with Naruto.

Gaara looked at her inquisitively, but when she placed her hands on either side of his head, he froze. Her lips met his in the softest of kisses. A kiss for a kiss; that made it up to him, didn't it? Their lips were connected only for a brief moment, but she tried to make it as generous as possible. It wasn't hard; Erina was surprised by the amount of spark radiating between them. Gaara felt his heart skip and jump erratically, and it continued long after she pulled away. He remained relatively still throughout the whole thing.

"Now we're even, okay?" Erina took hold of his hand and pulled him the other way, briefly turning to wave goodbye to the slack-jawed blonde behind them. At least now she wouldn't still wonder what it would have been like to kiss him back.

"... Okay," her companion mumbled in a dazed tone, tripping along behind her. Poor Gaara couldn't even form proper thought about what just happened. And he certainly wasn't sure if he was okay with just being "even", especially after a kiss like that.

Meanwhile, Naruto sat there, jaw still slacked in disbelief. That... wasn't what he had in mind.


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Erina spent the better part of her day in Haiku café trying to get caught up on her studies for the week. Work was going to be tough soon. She decided that in order to be able to go home once the semester ended, she would have to put in a lot more hours. And considering how she had worked most of her summer break, rarely seeing her family, Erina thought she had earned a rest. She wasn't sure Rei would let her crash on her couch again. Her fellow hostess had already done enough for her by getting her that job. It was a shame her parents lived out of town.

"Oh, that's Erina-chan!" a familiar voice jarred her from her thoughts. Her brandy eyes darted around the café until they landed on a certain blonde waving wildly at her... who had his pretty girlfriend in tow. What were the two of them doing in here? Oh, no, Naruto was finally going to introduce them...

"Hey, Naruto," she offered awkwardly, standing up from the plush armchair that she was seated in. "You must be Sakura, Naruto's told me a lot about you," Erina complimented as she offered her hand for Sakura to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Naruto's beloved smiled cheerfully, and Erina felt a pain in her chest. She had expected Sakura to be so pleasant. "I've heard a lot about you, too. I wish I could stay and chat, but I've got class to get to," Sakura trailed off. She looked as if she was thinking something over. She smiled at Erina again. "You should come with us to dinner tonight," the pink haired girl suggested. Naruto didn't look very happy with that idea, so Erina decided to take the hint.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be the third wheel," Erina rejected as kindly as she could, shaking her head slightly. She wasn't sure how she'd feel about watching the two of them anyway.

"You can bring someone if you like. It could be a double date!" She looked at Naruto expectantly, waiting for him to agree. He nodded back reluctantly, plastering a fake grin on his face. Sakura pointedly ignored it. "We'll be at Shushuya at seven." She turned to kiss Naruto on the cheek and Erina felt her stomach turn a bit. "I'll see you tonight."

"See you," Naruto murmured as he watched the girl walk away. He quickly turned to Erina once he saw Sakura exit through the glass door. "Erina, you don't have to do this. Don't you have work tonight?"

"No," she replied raising an eyebrow at his tone. He really seemed adamant about not having her come tonight. "Don't worry. I'm not going to screw up your alone time with Sakura. I'll eat quickly and leave early."

He had a feeling that wasn't going to help.

* * *

Gaara was actually surprisingly nonchalant when Erina had called and asked him on a "date". If she didn't know him so well, she'd say he was amused by the whole situation. She had to admit, though, she was really impressed when he picked her up from her dorm, looking really well dressed in his button up shirt. So well, in fact, that she was very glad she had put on the low cut pale yellow dress that one of the girls had lent her for work.

"I really owe you this time, Gaara," she breathed as they entered the restaurant. Naruto and Sakura waved to them from a table, and Erina lowered her tone to a whisper. "I'll try to get us out of here as soon as possible."

"I don't mind," Gaara murmured back. When they had reached the table, he was the perfect gentleman, pulling her chair out for her. Erina found herself grinning from his thoughtfulness. Clearly the red head hadn't gotten his dating advice from his brother, Kankuro. "By the way... you look... really nice," he continued as he took his seat, stammering through the words.

"Th-Thank you," she replied, chewing her glossed lips. She was slowly getting more and more impressed with his date manners. Sure, he seemed a little shy about the whole situation, but that was just how Gaara was.

Naruto cleared his throat, hoping to ease the awkward tension in the air. "Sakura, you remember Gaara, right?" he asked. He was still pretty bummed about the fact that the two of them were tagging along. The blonde was kind of hoping tonight would be a _special_ night between him and Sakura, if you caught his drift, and it was kind of hard to set the mood with other people there.

"Oh, right, Temari's younger brother," the green eyed girl recollected. "It's nice to see you again." Sakura took a moment to glance between the two of them slyly. "I figured the two of you were together after I saw you at that party." Oh, dear, Sakura remembered seeing Erina and Gaara at that party when she was beyond drunk. Hopefully, she had missed the whole licking-Naruto's-hair incident.

Erina waited for Gaara to correct Sakura, to say that they weren't together, but he just glanced at her as if he was waiting for her to take care of that. The brunette picked up her menu and hid behind it; part of her didn't want to correct Sakura. Maybe she was embarrassed that she didn't have someone special, like Naruto and Sakura had? "Hm, I've heard the salmon is good here," the brandy eyed girl commented. Gaara looked a tad flustered, but he focused on his menu and stayed silent.

"Oh, it is! You should try it."

Just when he thought tonight couldn't get any more awkward... Naruto sat there blinking in confusion. Gaara and Erina weren't together. They were just friends. Erina had said so herself. Although, when he thought about it, that _was_ over two weeks ago. A lot could change in that amount of time... But, no, one of them would have told him something that big...

Wouldn't they?


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16_

Gaara woke with a start, something mildly heavy landing on him. He had been sleeping soundly on the couch, and the fact that he had been jarred wake must be the sign that Erina had come home. She must have thrown her coat on him, and even though he could hardly see her in the dark, he could tell that she was stumbling about. The brunette didn't just seem fatigued, she was shaken.

Erina had a hard time keeping herself standing, and desperately swallowing down the bile that kept rising in her throat. If she could just get the nausea to pass, then she'd feel much better... about everything. "G-Gaara?" she whispered when she heard rustling from the other side of the room. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," he answered, sitting up on the couch as he tried to get a good look at her in the dark. Why did she sound so... distressed? "Are you alright?"

"H-hold on, I'm gonna get out of this stupid dress," she stuttered with a bit of disdain. The brunette stumbled to her room and started changing into her loose pajamas. Her head was still spinning. She couldn't do this anymore. Tonight was her breaking point. She had had enough of working in the horrible club. The other girls all told her that it had happened to all of them at one time of another, and the man had immediately been banned from the club. It made her feel better, but only slightly. She could still feel that man's hands... on her.

"Hey, Gaara?" Erina murmured, blindly reaching for him when she reentered the room. Her fingers brushed against his jaw, and she quickly clung to his side. Gaara seemed frozen in place, but Erina didn't sense his discomfort. "C-Can I stay with you a little while?" she begged in a whisper.

The redhead gave in, wrapping his arms around the girl. "What's wrong?" he asked, trying to relax as the girl crawled into his lap. Erina buried her face into his neck, and Gaara was surprised to feel hot tears from her eyes spilling onto his skin.

"I _hate_ my job," she sobbed quietly.

Gaara placed his hand between her shoulder blades, and it seemed to slowly ease her. He would have told her to quit whatever sort of job she had, if that's what she really wanted, but he knew she wouldn't. She needed the money too badly. "It's alright," he replied after a while. "Why don't you get some sleep? You'll feel better in the morning." He'd tell Temari to let her sleep in tomorrow; she didn't have class anyway.

"O-Okay," she sniffled, lifting herself off of his lap. She was glad to have Gaara there for her, especially tonight. But he was right; it was late and they were both exhausted. Still, she found herself wondering if he'd let her sleep with him tonight, but she decided not to ask. "Thanks, Gaara." Erina leaned forward and pressed her lips to his tattooed forehead, allowing them to linger, which made him flinch. "Goodnight."

Gaara sat there silently, waiting until she exited the room to let out a shaky breath. She needed to stop doing that. Hadn't they decided to just be friends? He shook those thoughts away; he needed to get to sleep. The redhead lied back down on the couch, pausing the moment he felt something jab his foot. Something sticking out of the pocket of Erina's coat.

He sat back up, curiosity getting the better of him. There was a small card sticking out of one of the pockets. He must have nicked his foot on the corner of it. Gaara removed it, squinting hard to read the words in the dark.

_Club Ainosu?_

* * *

"Mika, are you sure you're alright from yesterday?" Rei asked before she could leave for the night, concern evident on her face as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Rei had been the one to call security the night before, and for that, Erina was grateful.

"I'll be fine," she answered, a fake smile plastered on her face. Her manager had offered her the night off, but she didn't take it. Erina didn't want to show that it had affected her as much as it had. And she had proven herself by getting through another work night without incident. "I'll see you in a few days, Rei. I promise, I'm fine."

Rei was about to protest, but Erina was already on her way. And she immediately regretted leaving when she did, because it was pouring rain outside. All she had to keep her dry was her coat; her umbrella was at her dorm. "Damn it!" she shouted. Why was this week so freaking _terrible?_

The brunette raced down the sidewalk as quickly as she could in her high heels. Suddenly, she found herself coming to a screeching halt. All of the color had drained from her face Someone was standing there at the corner. It was Gaara standing at the corner with an umbrella.

"Hey," he greeted, a little too nonchalantly for her liking. She trudged over, dreading what was coming next. He knew. She didn't know how he knew, but he did. And now he had come all the way across town to get her. Maybe Naruto blabbed...

"So, this is where you work?" he asked as he took a look at the neon sign not too far away from them. She shuffled to get under his umbrella. Well, at least he didn't seem angry, like Naruto had. Erina nodded, looking towards the ground. "Come on, it's late."

They walked together in silence, but Erina's mind was racing. Why wasn't he upset? He should be; she had kept something this big from him. Erina muttered beneath her breath, "You aren't mad?"

Her friend shrugged. "No," he answered. Did it really not matter to him? Well, he had come all the way over here to see her. Maybe he was concerned; she had come to him crying last night. Or maybe he knew she left without her umbrella? Now she felt horrible.

Gaara was her closest friend, and she couldn't even tell him her job. And knowing that she had kept it from him didn't bother him? Erina felt her heart starting to swell. He was always there for her when she needed him. Always comforting her, spending time with her, and he even remained friends with her... even when she got the suspicion he wanted more than that. Maybe it was time she saw what was right in front of her.

"G-Gaara!" she cried, grabbing a hold of his forearm and bringing the two of them to a halt.

He looked at her inquisitively, but his sea foam eyes grew wide when she wrapped her arms around his neck and jerked him forward. Their lips crashed together, and it took him a moment to understand what was happening. It wasn't until he started to kiss back that they both realized what they had been missing all this time.

They'd have to make up for lost time.


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter 17_

Erina told him everything about her job, including what had happened the night before with that man in the club. And she was still so freaked out about it, so she mustered up enough courage to tell him what had happened and asked if she could stay with him. It wasn't exactly hard to convince him; especially, since their lips had barely stopped touching since they were on the street.

Needless to say, they didn't get much sleep. They even went so far as to skip their morning classes. Erina couldn't believe just how blind she had been this whole time. Gaara was so good to her, and being with him felt so right. Being held and kissed by him felt even better.

So what were they now exactly? They hadn't gotten around to discussing it yet, but it sure had been amusing when Temari had gotten up that morning. She had never seen her roommate look so confused, and a little grossed out. There was no doubt in her mind that Temari and Erina would be having a long discussion tonight.

Gaara finally sat up from their wonderful spot on the couch, much to Erina's displeasure. "We should get up," he commented, looking at his cell phone to check the time.

Why did they have to do anything today? Why couldn't they just sleep and cuddle all day? Erina sat up with him, pouting. "But do you want to?" She brushed her finger tips over his lips, hoping to tempt him a little. She really didn't want either of them to leave.

The redhead swallowed the lump in his throat. "No," he admitted, looking flustered. His mind was still slightly numb from the night before. He certainly didn't think going to meet her at work would lead to this. Were they together now? They must be. Gaara let her pull him back down to the cushions, but only for another kiss.

"Then let's stay in. Just for today," she murmured against his lips. They were interrupted by one of their stomachs growling quite loudly, which kind of ruined the moment. Erina laughed, "Or we could get something to eat. You want to cook some ramen down in the kitchen?" Gaara was about to nod when there was loud knocking at the door that made them both jump. Why did someone have to bother them right now?

"Erina," they heard Naruto's voice call frantically. "I'm sorry I didn't get your text until..." When he opened the door, Naruto was met with a peculiar sight. Erina was still in her pajamas, as if she hadn't left for class, and Gaara was on top of her. The blonde found himself blinking and staring at the two in confusion. That was hard to comprehend. _Gaara was on top of her. _ From the look of Gaara's filled backpack at the end of the couch, Naruto got the weird feeling that he was staying over. "... This morning," he finished. "What's going on?"

"We were just about to go to the kitchen," Erina stated, though she knew what Naruto was really asking. And when had she texted him? Oh, right, she had messaged him yesterday during class, when she was still freaked out over what had happened at the club. Naruto would want an explanation.

"Meet you down there?" she asked the redhead. Gaara nodded and got up to leave, though he didn't seem happy about it. He made sure to shoot Naruto a glare on his way out. "I'm okay now. I just had a little bit of a scare at work," she told Naruto.

"I just wanted to make sure..." Naruto trailed off. That was kind of a... personal moment he had just walked in on, one that left him hungry for answers. What exactly was going on between the two of them now? Hadn't Erina rejected him? "Did Gaara sleep here last night?" he blurted, pointing his finger towards the couch he had just seen them on.

Erina found herself shrugging. "He sleeps over most nights, why do you ask?" Gaara staying over had never been a big deal to her. Now that she thought about it, though... Things could get a lot more complicated if she was tempted to sleep on the couch with him every night.

Gaara had been sleeping over... with Erina. Did that mean the two of them were sleeping _together? _That seemed awfully soon, considering the fact that there was no way they had been together long enough for that. "So... It's really serious? Between you two?" Naruto asked, stumbling over his own words. He and Erina had never talked about, well, _sex_.

The brunette blinked, turning her head to the side in confusion. What exactly did he mean by that? One more glance at the look the blonde had on his face and she understood his tone. "W-We haven't been... _intimate_ if that's what you mean. We kind of... just got together last night."

"Oh, okay," he murmured as he breathed out a sigh of relief, though he wasn't exactly sure why. He should be congratulating her, shouldn't he? She finally had someone she cared about, like he had with Sakura. Naruto forced a smile onto his face. "I'm really happy for you two."

But for some reason, that felt like a lie.


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter 18_

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Sakura asked inquisitively, breaking the blonde from his thoughts. His pink haired girlfriend gave his arm a tug to get him moving. Naruto had to stumble after his impatient girlfriend. "We'll be late, Gaara and Erina are waiting."

They were heading to an end-of-the-semester party, which Sakura had managed to convince their "double date" friends to join them. To be honest, Naruto found it hard to be around the two of them now, especially with the way Erina looked at the redhead. Naruto had never been the most observant person, but even he knew that she fell hard for Gaara over the months they had been together. And something about that irked him, even though she was so much happier now.

"Hey guys!" Erina called from the front of the house. "You ready to go in?" She was waving wildly at them, her other hand intertwined with Gaara's. Naruto was already starting to wish he had stayed home. Meanwhile, his own girlfriend ran over and gave Erina a friendly hug. When had the two of them become so buddy-buddy?

Unfortunately, Erina was quick to sense his unease. "Hey, Naruto, are you okay?" she asked, approaching him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded numbly.

"He's been like this all day," Sakura complained as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. The pink haired girl pursed her lips in thought before shaking her head. She turned on her heel and entered the house without him.

"Maybe you'll feel better once you get a couple of drinks in you, huh?" Erina grinned as she nudged him on the arm. She pulled both him and Gaara inside. "You look like you could use a few."

Well, she was right about that.

* * *

Erina and Sakura were having a fun time at the party. They were dancing with several girls they knew. Naruto, on the other hand, was not enjoying himself. At least the drinks were helping. He looked across the crowded room and spied Erina's significant other. Gaara was sitting in an armchair looking bored, but he was preoccupying himself by watching his girlfriend twirl. Or making sure no drunken men tried to cop a feel on his girl. Naruto couldn't tell which. But he wasn't the only one who noticed.

A certain brunette squeezed through the crowd to get to him. A smile was stretched across her face that made the redhead's heart swell. The feeling only intensified when Erina joined him on the chair, straddling his waist. "Hey there, handsome," she murmured, pressing her forehead against his. "I saw you checkin' me out."

"You haven't been drinking have you?" he asked, eyebrow raised in caution. He really did not want a repeat of the night Erina had gotten drunk and hung all over Naruto. And he certainly didn't want to drag her to her dorm like that. His brow was furrowing at the thought of it.

"No," she giggled, her arms wrapping tightly around her boyfriend's neck. She couldn't help it if she liked the way he had been looking at her. He made her feel beautiful, loved, and about a hundred other emotions she had rarely felt before. It almost hurt her not to be around him now. She had never felt this way about anyone in her entire life. "I just really want to kiss you." Gaara didn't protest, but when their lips met he couldn't have been more surprised.

He had expected a peck. This was one of her most passionate kisses, the kind usually saved for private moments. Their tongues danced and their hands wandered, and suddenly they both forgot where they were in the heat of it. The loud, thumping bass of the music faded, and it wasn't until a few people obnoxiously cat-called towards them that they regained their senses.

Erina pulled away from him, looking flushed and biting her lip in embarrassment. Gaara's face was almost the color of his hair. The on-lookers had completely killed the mood, but she still wanted to spend time with Gaara. "You wanna go home?" she asked, leaning onto his shoulder. Temari was there, so they'd probably just fall asleep on the couch. Gaara agreed, wrapping his hoodie around her as they got ready to leave.

Naruto stood in the corner as one of the on-lookers, but he certainly wasn't cheering. The beer can in his hand was just a crushed piece of aluminum now, and as soon as he noticed its state, he ran to get another one. He didn't even give a single thought to what he was feeling right now. All he knew was that he wanted to forget everything he just saw.


End file.
